Playground Environment

We have provided an online playground with diverse environments for you to experiment with various concepts discussed throughout the book: practice SQL queries using a relational database, play around with MongoDB, a NoSQL database, or see how a graph database works using Cypher and Neo4j. A number of visualizations illustrate how search tree structures work.

There are two ways how you can use the online playground: either by creating an account on this site, or by downloading a standalone environment which you can host on your own system (as a Docker container). We recommend the latter option if you're planning to host your own environment for students to work with.

Access the Online Playground Environment

Hosting the Playground Environment Yourself

A Dockerfile repository is hosted at this GitHub repository from which you can set up your own Docker containing containing the full playground environment. Docker is available both for Linux, Mac, and Windows operating systems.

Read the instructions below or see this YouTube video on how to install the practice environment.

Installation on Non-Hyper-V Windows Systems

Docker for Windows requires Microsoft Windows 10 Professional or Enterprise 64-bit (i.e. a Windows edition supporting Hyper-V). If you're running another Windows version, you'll have to use the Docker Toolbox and VirtualBox. To install, first download and install Docker Toolbox. Next, open a PowerShell command line instance and enter the following:docker-machine create virtualbox

Once booted, run the following command:docker-machine env virtualbox | Invoke-Expression

Stop the virtual machine:docker-machine stop virtualbox

Next, open VirtualBox. A machine called "virtualbox" should be present. Open its settings and head to the Networking tab. Open the "Advanced" settings under "Adapter 1", and open the "Port Forwarding" window. Add a new port forwarding rule as follows: